Phil Coolidge passed away on December 3, 2017. He joined Rotary December 1, 1969 and was our club president for the 1979-1980 Rotary year. Phil believed in making the world a better place and became a Paul Harris Fellow in 1983 and continued making contributions to The Rotary Foundation through the years.

Phil was our District 5710 Group Study Exchange Chair in 2010-2011. In 2014, Phil was presented The Rotary International Citation for Meritorious Service Award. This award is given to honor a member of our district who has been actively involved in service activities related to The Rotary Foundation.

Phil was a true Rotarian and will be greatly missed. CLICK HERE to view his obituary.

Do you know how the speaker books are selected and delivered? Vicki Peterson, club president 1999-2000 works with the librarian at Ross Elementary school to select books needed for the library. Vicki makes arrangements to purchase the books at one of the school's Book Fairs. She picks up the books from the Book Fair and delivers them to the Rotary Office. Each week our guest speaker(s) sign a children's book and they are collected until the box is full. Then the books are delivered to Ross Elementary by a club volunteer.

This time, Jay Van Blaricum volunteered to deliver the full box of books along with a few "celebration bags" to be handed out. Thank you Vicki and Jay!

Members of our club and our Scott's Movement Interact Club delivered the gifts that were purchased a few weeks ago Walmart last week to the Highland Park High School Parent/Child Learning Center on December 6. Awesome job Team Christmas, says Angel Zimmerman!

Members had a great time at the club social. Everyone had a change to "tie one on" and create a soft blanket for the student families at Highland Park High School. And no beer was spilled in the process!

A group of Rotarians, family members and students meet at WalMart Tuesday, November 28 to purchase toys, clothes diapers and other needs for the students at Highland Park High School that have families of their own. This was a joint project with Downtown Topeka Rotary Club and the Scott's Movement Interact Club at Highland Park High School. Students with families will have a present to wrap for their children for Christmas. Special thanks to Angel Zimmerman for organizing and coming up with the shopping lists.

In 2016 the Topeka Downtown Rotary Club selected Topeka Center for Peace and Justice to receive a $20,000 grant for Restorative Justice. This is truly a life changing program for students in our community. Click on the video to learn more.